1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to digital content production systems and digital content production programs applied to the digital content production systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a digital content production system and a digital content production program, which is appropriate for use in preventing a layout intended by a designer from being destroyed, keeps the consistency of the layout, and prevents the order of posting information from being disturbed by an overflow of information.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, digital content delivery systems for providing users with digital contents, such as news, have been available. In such a digital content delivery system, several digital contents are read from a content registration data base (hereinafter the data base is simply referred to as DB), the read digital content is edited, and the edited digital content is then delivered to a user. In the editing process of the digital content, the digital content is edited in an easy-to-see layout to users. For example, techniques available to perform the layout can include a document organizing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1-180062 (hereinafter referred to as a first conventional art), and a document arranging apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-69096 (hereinafter referred to as a second conventional art).
The first conventional art includes a document storage unit for storing document data, a form storage unit for storing form data in accordance with the field of a document, a parser unit for parsing the logical structure of the document data in accordance with a document structure rule, a form selection unit for selecting form data appropriate for the document data, from among the form data in the form storage unit based on the logical structure parsed by the parser unit, and an organizing unit for organizing the document data in accordance with the logical structure and the form data selected by the form selection unit.
In the second conventional art, each of a plurality of types of column structures has several rectangular shapes into which space of a page is segmented using randomly arranged vertical and horizontal lines. A layout device searches for a single column or a composite column including a plurality of linked adjacent columns, appropriate for each document, in accordance with a random document processing order. Several layouts are obtained, in which a plurality of documents are organized in a plurality of column settings. A layout result assessment device can set an assessment score to each layout result based on a document posting priority order of each document. A best arrangement result search device can select the layout result having the highest score. A printing device can print a document in which a plurality of documents is organized in the column setting in accordance with the best layout result.
In available techniques to lay out the digital content, such as the first conventional art or the second conventional art, typically, a plurality of information storage frames for storing information to be posted (information such as an image or a document) forming a digital content is arranged in a layout area and the information to be posted is stored in these information storage frames. In the layout process, the information storage frame may not be sufficient to fully store the information with a portion thereof overflowed, depending on the amount of the information to be posted. For example, techniques available to prevent overflowing are a document automatic layout apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 4-60758 (hereinafter referred to as a third conventional art) and a document processing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 3-70068 (hereinafter referred to as a fourth conventional art).
The third conventional art modifies the font size of characters and the pitch of documents and the pitch of lines on a document if the document is determined as being inappropriate for being stored into the information storage frame because of the number of characters. The document is thus stored in the information storage frame.
The fourth conventional art relates to a document processing apparatus which produces and processes a mixed mode communication document in which character information and image information are laid out in accordance with layout information. The document processing apparatus includes a display unit for displaying an information storage frame, and a modifier unit which compares the area of an information storage frame with the area of a content such as characters and images input to be stored into the information storage frame and automatically modifies the area of the information storage frame so that the information storage frame accommodates the content. In another arrangement, the document processing apparatus includes the display unit, and an organizing unit which automatically modifies character spacing, and line spacing and automatically expands or contracts an image after comparing the area of an information storage frame with the area of a content such as characters and images input to be stored in the information storage frame so that the information storage frame accommodates the content.
If a digital content is mechanically laid out in an editing process thereof, legibility and good appearance may be destroyed, and for this reason, a designer designs beforehand several templates for layout so that the digital content is edited to the layout intended by the designer based on the layout template. In this case, the digital content is desirably edited to the layout intended by the designer, regardless of the content, the amount, and the logical structure of the information to be posted.
In accordance with the latter arrangement of the fourth conventional art and the third conventional art, the information to be posted is stored into the information storage frame by modifying the character font size, pitch of the document, and line pitch. The shape and location of the information storage frame are thus set as intended by a designer to some degree. In the digital content laid out, the information storage frame in which the character font, etc., is changed is different in form from the information storage frame in which the character font remains unchanged. This arrangement destroys the layout consistency of the content.
In the former arrangement of the fourth conventional art, the area of the information storage frame is automatically modified so as to store the content. The probability that the layout consistency of the content will be destroyed by the change of character font, etc is low. But there is a probability that the shape and location of the information storage frame are not arranged in a layout desired by the designer, depending on the amount of information to be posted.
In another arrangement, the overflowed information to be posted may be stored into an information storage frame on another page when the information storage frame is not sufficient to store the information to be posted with the portion thereof overflowed. In this way, it is expected that the shape and location of the information storage frame are arranged in a layout desired by the designer and the probability that the layout consistency is destroyed by the change of character fonts is low.
However, if the overflowed information is merely stored into another information storage frame, it is very difficult for a user or a deliverer to control the order of posting the information. For example, summaries of economy and sports are posted on pages 1 through 4, economy is detailed on and after page 5, and sports are detailed on pages subsequent to the economy pages. If the summary of sports is overflowed from page 4 in the arrangement that the overflowed information is merely stored into another information storage frame, the overflowed information may be posted onto page 5, which is originally intended as a space for the detail of economy. Since the overflowed information is related to sports, it is preferably discarded or posted on a page reserved for sports related matter.